Tuesday, June 10, 2008

David Riondino: Racconti picareschi (CGD, 1989)

Florentine comic and radio speaker David Riondino is recently associated with Stefano Bollani for their exuberant RadioTre broadcast "Il Dottor Djembe", which is notable for its bright and continuous references to fake musical artists, fake interviews, fake telephone calls, fake top tens and surreal musical humor.
He published about a dozen of albums as singer/songwriter, too. "Racconti picareschi" is the sixth one and is a full display of his hystrionic surrealist armory. Twenty short songs ranging from demential miniatures, astute satires of famous Italian singers/songwriters, nonsensical para-latin sketches. Irony, wordplays and a refinate sense of melody are the defining traits of this amazing album.
Musically speaking, the arrangements are a bit weak, probably quite low-budget. The flourished arpeggios by guitarist Andrea Braido (known for his work with Vasco Rossi, Mina, Zucchero etc.) and saxophone incursions do bring, unluckily, a distinct "sessionman" feeling to the album.



Tracklist:
  1. Africa
  2. Elefanti
  3. Maracaibo
  4. Dottor Livingstone, I Suppose
  5. Inno dei professionisti
  6. La mantide religiosa
  7. Milano sembra
  8. Canzone del silenzio degli animali
  9. Crepuscolo del Novecento
  10. Jessica
  11. E va po ro
  12. La grande aragosta
  13. Canzone della foca
  14. Canzone dell'impiegatino asburgico
  15. Giuseppina che cammina sul filo
  16. Franco a Catania
  17. Parco dell'Uccellina
  18. Le strade di Tex
  19. Alegria do Brasil
  20. Empepada de cajajo
Download (~160 kbps)